Safety audit ordered after airport road mishap

The Reliance Infrastructure-led MMOPL has also asked all sub-contractors to suspend work till such time that the independent firm completes safety checks and ensures that the highest safety standards are being followed.

Written by Express News Service |
Published: September 11, 2012 3:10 am

Nearly a week after a major accident on the under-construction Versova-Andheri-Ghatkopar Metro,Mumbai Metro One Private Limited (MMOPL),the special-purpose vehicle implementing the project,said it had decided to appoint an independent firm to conduct a safety audit at all Metro construction sites.

The Reliance Infrastructure-led MMOPL has also asked all sub-contractors to suspend work till such time that the independent firm completes safety checks and ensures that the highest safety standards are being followed.

MMOPL will resume construction once we are confident that all contractors/ vendors are committed to safety norms. This will not have any impact on the project cost and deadline, a spokesperson said.

Sources said the audit may take five to six days.

The construction of Versova-Andheri-Ghatkopar Metro,which began in February 2008,is scheduled to be completed by March 2013. Last week,an escalator beam being concretized at the Airport Road Metro station fell from a height of about 15 metres,killing a labourer and injuring 16. So far,12 of the injured have been discharged from hospital. This was the eighth accident on the Metro since construction of the 11.4-km corridor started.

Preliminary investigation suggests unforeseen underground changes caused by unprecedented rain led to the collapse of the above staging structure and caused the accident, the spokesperson said,adding that MMOPL had appointed an inquiry committee of experts.

A board meeting of MMOPL will be held on Tuesday at 4 pm in the presence of senior MMRDA officials,the nodal agency for the project. MMRDA has also formed an independent two-member committee to probe the mishap.